No two reasons
They're good reasons
Why'd you have to die but leave a hundred alibies
Cause no one is surprised

September 3rd 4PM Saturday

Miss Riddle,

Mr. Malfoy will be arriving in my office at 8PM this evening and I thought you might like to be present for his return. I do not think that spending two or three hours in the castle will affect you but if there is even a hint that your health is in danger I have arranged a portkey to take you straight back to Sanctuary.

I am enclosing a portkey that will activate at precisely 6PM. I am inviting you to dine in the Great Hall with the students and staff here at Hogwarts before Draco's return. If you are not comfortable with this arrangement then alternative plans can be made on your arrival.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Fawkes dropped an old sock in front of me and then disappeared in a burst of flames without waiting for a reply. I sat in silence as I read the letter once more. Draco would be returning and I couldn't help but smile.

"You seem to be in a better mood," Khalida commented as she sat down on the kitchen chair across from me. I pushed the letter across the table toward her. She picked it up and scanned over it quickly. "This is good news," she said with a soft smile and handed the letter back to me.

"Definitely," I replied, "I was so worried about him." Khalida studied me intently and I couldn't help but blush.

"You care about him very much don't you?" she asked.

"He's a friend," I stammered, "He helped me when I came to London. I had never met a wizard before I met him, besides my father of course." I was grasping at straws and it was obvious.

"I think there might be a little more to it then that," she replied with a smirk. My blush grew deeper and I stared down at the teacup sitting in front of me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I stated while continuing to stare at the cup, unable to look up and meet her gaze, "I'm only eighteen and he's old enough to be my father."

Much to my further embarrassment, Khalida began to laugh. I covered my face with my hands and groaned loudly. She continued to laugh and I debated throwing my teacup at her head, but held myself back. The stupid vampire would probably just dodge it anyway and then I would have wasted perfectly good tea.

"Are you finished yet?" I growled. Khalida stopped laughing and gave me a confused look.

"I wasn't laughing at you," she stated seriously, "I just think its funny how worried humans are about things like age and time."

"We don't all live forever," I explained, "So excuse us stupid humans for worrying about things like time."

"No, you don't understand," she said with a chuckle, "That's the funny part. Humans only live for a set number of years. Compared to a vampire a human's existence is like a pebble in an ocean. Yet humans will keep themselves from having what they want because of time."

"So you're saying age shouldn't matter," I said hopefully, "Do you think you could explain that to Draco because I don't think he'll get it."

"Probably not," she said, shaking her head sadly. "I have been in love many times so I know how you feel," she admitted, "Usually they were vampires, but sometimes wizards and even the occasional muggle."

"What happened?"

"Nothing much," Khalida shrugged, "In some cases we grew tired of each other or just couldn't get along. There was a certain wizard though that I thought I could have spent the rest of my life with."

"Really?" I asked curiously.

"O yes," she replied with a sad smile, "And do you know what happened."

"No idea."

"He told me it would never work because he was only eighteen," she explained.

"You were in love with my father," I gasped in surprise. She slowly poured herself another cup of tea while flashing me an amused grin.

"Very much so," she replied, "I wanted nothing more than to take him away and turn him." Her eyes became slightly clouded and she seemed to be staring at someplace far in the distance. "We could have been together for the rest of eternity and I would have made him so happy."

"Why didn't you then?" I asked in confusion.

"He said no," Khalida stated with a frown, "He told me that he had too many responsibilities to take care of and he had no desire to live forever."

"But he's going to live forever anyway," I sighed.

"He didn't know that at the time," she explained, "The way Dumbledore explained it to him he thought that he only needed to defeat the Dark Lord and then he would be able to die."

"What?!" I exclaimed, "He never told my father about Hogwarts?" Khalida shrugged and took another sip of tea.

"If Dumbledore did tell Gilgamesh," she replied, "he never told me about it."

"But what about after Voldemort was defeated, didn't he wonder why he continued to live?" I asked disbelievingly.

"I wouldn't know," she said sadly, "I never saw him again after he defeated the Dark Lord."

"Why not?" I asked, "If you loved him then why didn't you want to see him?" She shook her head furiously and slammed her cup down on the table so hard that the handle broke.

"I did want to see him," she snarled, "It was Gilgamesh that did not want to see me." Her explanations weren't making sense. Why would Father not want to see her? I could tell that she obviously cared about him very much so why would he push her away.

Khalida cursed under her breath as she wiped up the tea that she had spilled. The cup was beyond repair so she threw it into the wastebasket under the sink. I handed her my cup which she placed on the tea tray. She carried the tray to the sink and I could see it vibrating as her hands shook fiercely.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," I said sadly, "I didn't mean to." She sighed as she lowered the tray into the sink. When she turned around to face me she was massaging her forehead with one hand.

"It's not your fault," she stated, "You are ignorant of the past." She offered me a warm smile which I returned. "You better get ready to go, that portkey activates in an hour." I nodded and got up to leave the kitchen.

"You better get ready as well since you'll be accompanying me," I said without turning around.

"What are you talking about!" she exclaimed, "There's no way that Dumbledore would invite me to Hogwarts."

"Of course," I stated as I turned around to give her the patented Draco smirk, "That's exactly why I'm inviting you along."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she said while shaking her head.

"But I might need your protection," I explained in the most innocent tone I could manage.

"I still don't know…" Khalida's voice trailed off and I knew I had her exactly where I wanted her.

"And besides that," I said with a grin, "Don't you think it would be interesting to see the look on Dumbledore's face when you show up with me?" She pretended to think about it for a moment and then nodded her head in agreement. "Great!" I exclaimed, "You're going to love Hogwarts."

"Yes, yes," she said as she pushed me out of the kitchen, "Now go get ready so we'll be able to leave on time. I'm sure you'd hate to miss out on seeing Severus and Draco again…especially Draco."

"Yes, especially Draco," I admitted with a grin, "and Severus of course. There's someone else I need to speak to while we're there and I'd like to invite him to dinner tomorrow night if that's okay with you. I figure he could floo directly here."

"That would be fine," she said while giving me a puzzled look, "but who is this mystery man and what will Draco think?"

"I'm sure Draco will be fine with it once I explain things to him," I said in a cryptic tone, "and the man's name is Neville Longbottom."

"I don't think I've ever met him," Khalida stated, "Do you know him well?" I shook my head and headed toward the bathroom.

"I've only met him once," I explained without turning around, "but I think he may have family that I'm quite familiar with."

TWO HOURS LATER, 6PM

If there was one thing that separated my home from the home's of normal families it was the complete absence of photographs. My father abhorred cameras with a vengeance so I never even saw one until I was well into my teens. I found them rather interesting devices but I never could understand why someone would have the urge to capture moments on film.

When I appeared in Dumbledore's office clutching one end of an old sock with Khalida List clutching the other end I suddenly understood, because there was nothing I wanted to do more than capture the look of surprise on Dumbledore's face. The surprise didn't last long though and soon his expression reverted back to that annoying all-knowing smile accompanied by the even more annoying twinkling in his eyes.

"Miss Riddle, Miss List," he said merrily, "It's such a pleasure to see you again." I acknowledged his greeting with a slight nod while Khalida dropped her end of the sock. She began wandering around the office, looking at everything around her with an awed expression.

"Can we go eat?" I asked rudely, "I'm starving."

"Of course," Dumbledore said with a chuckle, "I'm quite famished myself."

After promising Khalida that we would return after dinner so she could explore further we were able to coax her out of the office and down the stairs. We followed Dumbledore in silence. The headmaster was walking in front of us and Khalida was busy investigating everything around her so neither one of them noticed my fists clenched nervously at my sides or the pained expression on my face.

Khalida gasped in surprise as we walked into the Great Hall. She seemed to have the same reaction to the ceiling as I had the first time I saw it and I had to grab her hand to lead her up to the staff table.

"Jenny," she whispered, "did you see the ceiling? I've never seen anything like it."

"Yes," I replied as I pushed her into the chair next to Severus, "It's quite beautiful."

I turned to find a chair and wasn't particularly shocked to find that the only empty chair was next to Dumbledore. He gave me an innocent smile as he motioned to me to sit down. I glared at him in return.

"I hope you enjoy dinner," he said with a mischievous grin, "Somehow the house elves found out you were coming and they've been working hard all day preparing something special." I merely grunted at him and stared at the plate in front of me waiting for the food to appear.

Surprised shouts and laughter filled the hall as the food appeared at each of the tables. Khalida was laughing merrily and Severus was grumbling loudly on the other side of her.

"Hamburgers!" I exclaimed. But that wasn't the only surprising entrée. The staff table and each of the house tables were filled with a variety of American favorites. Pepperoni pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and baby back ribs just to name a few.

I grabbed the goblet in front of me, wondering what type of drink the house elves decided would go with such a meal. It was a dark liquid and I hesitantly took a small sip. "Pepsi!" I cried out with a smile.

"Do you plan on yelling out the entire menu?" Severus asked in an irritated whisper.

"Stop it Severus," Khalida said as she batted at him playfully, "She's having fun, let her enjoy herself."

"Yeah Sevvie poo," I said mockingly, "let me have my fun." He glared at me silently and his eyes widened in surprise as a chicken nugget came sailing over Khalida's head. It hit its mark and smacked him right in the nose, leaving a nice line of ranch dipping sauce down the center.

The Great Hall fell silent and all eyes turned to stare at Severus. Dumbledore and Khalida gave me a warning look and I knew immediately that I had gone too far. Severus wiped the sauce from his nose, threw down his napkin and stalked out of the hall. Immediately after he left the students began whispering to one another excitedly. I stood up and ran after Severus, barely noticing the stares directed my way and completely ignoring Dumbledore as he called out in an attempt to stop me.

As I walked through the doorway I glanced down the hall and saw the edge of Severus' robe disappear as he turned the corner. I raced after him but soon lost sight of him altogether. I tried to remember how to get back to the great hall but after turning three corners and seeing nothing that looked familiar I gave up and admitted to myself that I was completely lost.

The sound of someone crying led me to an old wooden door and I pushed it open a tiny bit so that I could peer inside. I realized immediately that it was a bathroom so I stepped inside cautiously to get a better look. The crying suddenly stopped and I ventured further into the bathroom.

After a few minutes of complete silence I decided to leave. I turned toward the door and screamed in fright as two black eyes stared back at me. It was a young girl in pigtails dressed in Hogwarts robes. There was nothing out of the ordinary about her besides the fact that she was slightly translucent and hovering a foot or two off the ground.

"What are you doing here?" she asked angrily.

"I'm sorry," I stammered, "I got lost. I'll be leaving now." I moved to walk past her but she glided over to block my path.

"Don't go," she pleaded with a sad smile, "I rarely have visitors." I smiled at her in return.

"Okay," I replied, "but I can't stay long. My name's Jenny." I almost offered my hand to shake but pulled back in embarrassment when I remembered that ghosts can't touch anything.

"My name's Myrtle," she offered in return, "I died in this very bathroom many, many years ago."

"That's awful," I stated. An uncomfortable silence fell over us as she studied me intently.

"I know who you are," she admitted, "All of the ghosts know who you are."

"I don't know what you mean," I stuttered. She laughed in amusement.

"The portraits in Dumbledore's office are horrible gossips," she explained, "They're forbidden to speak but that doesn't mean that they can't tell the other portraits what goes on and those portraits tell the ghosts. Just wait until Nick gets a hold of you; he's been dying to speak to you." She laughed at her joke and I couldn't help but laugh along with her.

"Why doesn't anyone visit you?" I asked seriously. Myrtle became very quiet as she floated around me.

"I'm not a happy ghost," she explained, "I was murdered and I'm afraid it made me quite bitter."

"That's understandable," I replied.

"Your father was the only one who ever really talked to me," she continued, "I still remember the first time I saw him. When I met him I wished so much to be alive again. I even offered to share my toilet with him if he died while he was down in the chamber."

"The Chamber?" I asked in confusion.

"The Chamber of Secrets," she explained while pointing toward one of the sinks in the middle of the bathroom, "The entrance is right under that."

I walked over to the sink and studied it closely. On one side of the faucet there was a small engraving of a snake. I turned the handle and nothing came out. Myrtle glided over next to me.

"Do you know how he opened it?" I asked. Myrtle nodded her head while grinning madly.

"O yes," she replied, "He said something in snake language and it opened right up." She frowned for a moment and added, "I don't know what he said for sure."

"That's fine," I said as I logged the information in the back of my brain for use on a later date. Now I needed to find a way to Dumbledore's office. "Do you think you could tell me how to get to the headmaster's office or the Great Hall?" I asked, "I don't want to get lost again."

"I can do better than that," she said with a smirk, "Wait here and I'll be back in a moment." She floated over to one of the toilets and dived in with a loud splash. A few moments later she returned with a happy, well-dressed ghost trailing behind her.

"I'd like you to meet Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," she said as she motioned to the male ghost floating next to her, "Sir Nicholas, I'd like you to meet Miss Jenny Riddle, or should I say Miss Jenny Potter." Sir Nicholas' eyes widened in surprise and he bowed in greeting.

"It is an honor to meet you Miss Potter…Miss Riddle," he stammered, "O bother, I have no idea what to call you."

"You can call me Jenny," I said with a reassuring smile.

"Well in that case you can call me Nick," he stated with a grin. "Now, Myrtle has told me that you require some assistance. How can I be of service?"

"I need to get to the Headmaster's office," I explained, "Can you show me the way?"

"Of course," he replied, "Follow me." Nick glided toward the door and I followed along behind him. When we got to the doorway I turned around to say farewell to Myrtle and thank her for her help.

"Thank you so much Myrtle," I said sincerely. Myrtle smiled at me shyly.

"It was no trouble," she replied. "Will you come and visit me again?" she asked hopefully.

"I'd love to," I answered, "It may be a little while before I get a chance to come back to Hogwarts but next time I do I'll be sure to stop by."

"Okay," she said sadly, "Good-bye then." I shook my head.

"No, don't say good-bye," I said with a grin, "say, see you later." I waved at her and left the bathroom closing the door behind me. Nick chuckled softly as Myrtle yelled, "See you later!" from behind the door.

The trip back to Dumbledore's office was a long one. Every five minutes Sir Nicholas would stop and point out certain things and give long lengthy explanations. I constantly had to remind him that we were in a hurry. He didn't seem to notice though, and after five minutes of silence he would stop once again.

"Thanks for helping me," I said with a sigh of relief as we finally stood in front of the ugly stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"No trouble at all," Nick said with a smile, "If you ever need anything do not be afraid to ask." I went to walk up the stairs that circled the gargoyle but stopped when I noticed the stairs were no longer there. I turned around quickly to stop Nick before he could float away.

"Wait!" I called out, "What happened to the stairs?" Nick turned around and glided towards me.

"The stairs started working again this morning," he explained, "So you'll need to tell the gargoyle the password."

"But I don't know the password," I groaned, "How am I going to get up there?" Nick looked up and down the hall cautiously.

"I will tell you the password," he said, "but you must not tell anyone that I did." I nodded my head and he floated over to whisper the password in my ear. A moment later he was gone.

"Pixie Stick," I told the gargoyle. It immediately jumped out of the way and the steps began to rise out of the floor. I stepped carefully onto the second step and rode the stairs all the way to the top.

"Come in," Dumbledore's voice called out from inside the office. I pushed open the door and was met by a furious potions master and a very worried vampire. They both opened their mouths to begin ranting at me but stopped when a soft thud drew everyone's attention to one corner of the room. I ran over and pulled the newcomer into a hug.

"Draco," I said softly as I held him tightly in my arms, "I'm so glad you're okay." He didn't reply but his arms did tighten ever so slightly in return. I smiled into his chest. It wasn't much, but it was a start.